Research using animals has facilitated major breakthroughs in medicine, and remains a necessary part of scientific efforts to understand biology and diseases, and to develop safe and effective novel therapeutics.

The European Directive has enhanced welfare standards across the EU and embeds the concepts of refinement, replacement and reduction (the '3Rs') within EU legislation. It also ensures that animals are only used in research if the potential medical, veterinary and scientific benefits are compelling and there is no viable alternative method.

Whilst the scientific community is not able to fully replace the use of animals at the present time, it should continue to make progress in developing alternative methods to the use of animals in research.